Pest of Ikebukuro
by Unseen-Ender
Summary: Izaya ponders why he loves to mess with Shizuo so much. Just a random scrap story to attempt to explain my views.


(( Please forgive me. I haven't written a fanfiction in years and none at all for Durarara! so forgive me for any roughness! ))

There it was again… That smell. Smoke and testosterone. I knew he was near without turning or acknowledging anything. Soon he would pounce, when his eyes finally found me, but in the mean time I needed to wrap up with the pawn before me.

My time was even more limited than I thought. The light whistle of wind past steel alerted me and I was so accustomed to the sound by now that a quick sidestep was all I needed to avoid the trash bin that crashed to the space I had stood moments ago.

I waited, the smirk ever lingering on my lips and eyes still locked on Masaomi's. His own were wide from shock, but held no pity for scum such as me. Where was it…?

"Izaya!"

And there it was. That anger filled, malice laced, spat version of my name. How I loved it… My gaze turned to look at him in the distance, nearly mouthing his next words as he shouted them at me.

"I thought I told you to stay out of Ikebukuro!"

He stood on firm feet, stance wide and locked, but he was hunched forward like a beast in prey. As I watched, his shoulders rose and fell with every heavy inhale and exhale. Bleached hair scattered on his head, lightly stuck with sweat or blood, possibly both. His eyes were hidden behind those blue shades that he loved so much, but I knew they were aflame with hatred. Such rage all wrapped into such an alluring package… and he wondered why I never stayed out of Ikebukuro.

"Shizu-chan!" The call formed on my lips and rolled off as naturally as one would call a pet and when his head dipped down like a bull ready for charge, I knew I'd gotten under his skin yet again. "It's been a long time. I'm glad to see you haven't forgotten me."

My enemy's hand was already out, ripping another unsuspecting street sign from its snug home in the concrete. I only smiled, waiting for it to come my way so that I could bound away.

Briefly, I turned my eyes back to Masaomi who had returned to his glare, "Until later, chief…"

I sidestepped backwards and ducked just in time for the sign to swing over my head. Shizuo was closer now, the cigarette gone from his lips, but the smell lingering around him. I'd grown quite fond of that scent and when I smiled back at him, it was an honest look.

"You missed me, Shizu-chan. Don't tell me all that tobacco is starting to affect your health. We might have to have you cut down on that. Wouldn't want my toy to die out too quickly."

"You bastard!"

I jumped this time, feeling the steel of the sign close enough to clip my heels. As a last second thought, I clamped my feet down on the metal and leaned toward him. Those eyes… So much hate…

Without another thought I pushed off the sign post, using the momentum of his swing to give me a few feet more distance. He growled loudly behind me and when I was a few feet away, I turned slight enough to wave back at him, "It's been real, but I do have other people to play with today. Goodbye, Shizu-chan!"

"Izaya!"

But I was already gone, ducking between buildings and running with fleeting footsteps through the underbelly of Ikebukuro. Eventually his shouts of my name faded away, the foul scent of his death sticks gave out to trash and muck. My pace finally slowed.

The smile on my face faded down to a soft smirk as I moved my hands into the pockets of my coat. The shadows on the ground before me formed pictures in my mind's eye as I tried to move my attention away from him again.

Why was I lingering?

Shizuo Hewijima… From the first moment he saw me, he'd hated me. I hadn't even gotten a word out. Sometimes I wanted to blame Shinra, but in all reality the words he had spoken were true. I was scum. I was the darkness on your palms that you could never remember the cause of. I was that voice against your ear, tempting and urging you for my own entertainment.

Because I loved humanity. I loved the twitch and pull of mind over heart. I loved how quickly pleasure could turn into to agony and vice versa. They were nothing if not entertaining. Ups and downs and twists and turns. Every person a piece of some grand puzzle, interlocking without even realizing they were so much more to me than one piece. They were a whole, a group, a big picture of intrigue that I was always moving them into.

Except him…

No matter where I put him on the board, he moved himself. He was always in a new place, with new people, with nothing on his mind at all. All I had, the only constant he gave me, was his hatred…

The only game I could play with him properly was cat and mouse. There were days when I wondered if we were play this game until we were old and gray, until his hands curled from arthritis and my own fleeting steps left me unsteady. Would his tone shouting my name break off to a cough and wheeze?

That first day, when he had decided to hate me at a first glance… when he eliminated my chance to have an in like I did with everyone else… that was the day he stood out most in my mind. He was different.

There's a fine line between love and lust. He wasn't malleable, wasn't as easily manipulated as the rest. I wanted him. Not physically exactly, I just wanted to toy with him. Keep him. Claim him. Tame the beast, if you will. I wanted him to be mine.

There was no trickery in our relationship. In fact, you could say we were most honest around each other. No one saw my true intentions quicker than Shizu-chan. Maybe you could call it love.

The Russian had been the one to explain it most clearly: "You just don't want to lose Shizuo, right? You have some kind of complex about him."

And he was right of course. I did have a Shizuo complex. Even I was never quite sure if I loved the man or simply wanted to get him because I had never truly been able to fool him. However, I was sure that his thoughts on me were not nearly as twisted.

He wanted me dead. There was no complex for him, not lingering footsteps or deep inhales to try to catch my scent still lingering in the air. There was no late night thoughts of how to sneak back into Ikebukuro for another game just to keep our standings in order, to hear his name from my lips.

No, I'm sure he slept well, deep and steady to allow his ever breaking bones and worn body to heal. And once I pushed out thoughts of him, I slept just as deeply… but somehow he kept finding his way back into my mind.

I'd have to find more ways to make him listen, to mess with him, to anger him. I had to stay number one on his list even if it was in a negative standing. I would make sure he remembered my name even until we were gray.

Because I do love all humans… One specifically.


End file.
